Survey Sites: Are they legit or scam?

With the emergence of the internet, we have a plethora of opportunities to earn our living. ‘Making money online’ is a trending catchphrase across World Wide Web. Old school blogging or digital marketing is not really fast ways to earn. There is now another way that promises you some quick earning and that are survey sites.

Marketing companies conduct market researches. They run online surveys to track their focus group. Some legitimate sites really pay you for investing your time taking their surveys. But just like in any other businesses, survey sites also have scammers.

• How do the survey sites work?

Companies with strong market presence conduct market research. Usually, they hire reputed market research companies do the job. However, they don’t always pay you a big amount. Here enter the scammers who would promise you lots of money. Their sole interest is for you to sign up to their list.

• How to recognize fraud survey sites?

Usually, there are two ways survey site scam works-

1. To get a survey done, you will have to pay. Some survey sites ask for paid memberships. They promise to send you lots of surveys and lots of money. But what they actually do is, list all the surveys over the internet that you could have found yourself for free otherwise.
2. The survey site pitches you some advertisement or asks you to buy some products and/or services. They would send you newsletters with different kinds of offers. For example- win $100 Amazon gift card through Sweepstakes. They can also ask you to sign up for some services or buy some products.

So if you see that a survey site is asking for any of the two then beware and don’t fall for the trap!

• How can you trust a survey site?

Oftentimes some of these scammers impersonate as a legitimate company which is a major threat. But fret not as there are some telltale signs to smell trouble in survey sites like:

1. If they ask you to pay, turn away immediately.
2. If they ask for personal information like your full address, credit/debit card information or social security number, then there is something fishy going on.
3. If the site opens with advertising and promoting products before they show anything else, it is a scam.
4. Legitimate surveyors always provide you with privacy policy. If you cannot find it, it’s better to move on.
5. Last but not least, if they offer you something big, then it surely is a scam.

Hence, don’t fall prey to the scammers to earn some quick money. Be sure of the legitimacy of the site before you take up a survey.